Orochimaru did not just miraculously gain Hashirama cells, seeing as he absorbed the body of a zetsu clone. Those clones are essentially Hashirama clones, and I am glad that we were shown some immediate effects of the absorption. I am even more curious as to what, exactly, Yamato is doing in that cave.
There are bound to be many strength comparisons going on from now on, but that is senseless. Unless the characters were taken from this world, and put into a stadium somewhere for them to fight, we will never know how a real, random battle between them would look unless Kishimoto confirms it. Though, I will go out on a limb and speculate that the sage of the six paths beats everyone.
Someone else said it before me, but I think the coming chapters are going to be flashbacks. However, I'm not against that at all. We are getting exactly what we need right now, and that is answers to many questions about this world. I think in just about every chapter since Sasuke has appeared, at least one mystery has been solved per chapter. I like this pace.